Balsa repair

Submitted by SavageViews on Thu, 05/15/2008 - 22:08

I just finished the final layer(s) of glass work on my balsa core job (approx 50% of hull). Overall, not that difficult of a process thanks to the FS balsa repair guide. I plan to blog the experience in more detail but I thought I would offer my observations to the group:
1. Demo is pretty straightforward. Circular saw set to min cut (the glass is approx 1/8" thick)
2. Balsa is pretty easy to work with - a utility knife will cut it.
3. I don't think I used enough resin under the balsa and must have mixed it a bit to weak for the cool weather we had...definitely increase catalyst when below 75F.
4. Rollers were the most useful for the glass work. The squeegee seemed to make a mess of the fibers.
5. The top layers of glass consumed 3qts resin - I ended up needing more than I initially purchased. The 4 layers at the C/B take a lot of resin to wet out.
Does anyone have any tips for the gel coat layer? I'm coating the entire balsa section of the hull. I plan to use a 4" cabinet roller and foam brush - but I may have a short nap 9" roller on standby if the process is too tedious.